September 11, 2010

 Congressman Gregory W. Meeks Statement on 9/11

(JAMAICA, NEW YORK)– "Today, America is nine years out from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  Yet, the memories of those horrendous events remain fresh.  Nearly 3,000 Americans and nationals from dozens of other countries perished when terrorists flew a passenger aircraft they had seized into the North tower and a second hijacked plane into the South tower of the World Trade Center.  Hundreds of American military and civilian personnel died a few minutes later when another group of terrorists crashed a third hijacked plane into the Pentagon.  Scores more were killed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, as a dozen or more heroic passengers sacrificed themselves to prevent terrorists aboard a fourth hijacked plane from reaching their sinister objective — possibly the White House, the Capitol Building, or CIA headquarters.

"In collective shock and pain, Americans came together irrespective of race, religion, region, or national origin, as they had not in several generations.  The world grieved with us and rallied around us as our government undertook to track down and punish those who inflicted such extraordinary destruction on our nation.
Nine years out it is incumbent upon all Americans — its policymakers, above all — to retrieve the spirit and revive the solidarity of that moment of peril, tragedy, and resilience in the continuing struggle against terrorism and as our country confronts new crises.  Above all, it is our duty to do all that is necessary to take care of the survivors, the incredibly brave first responders, the self-sacrificing volunteers, and the heroic demolition and construction workers who toiled for months afterwards to clear Ground Zero and rebuild the Pentagon.

"In their memory let us rededicate ourselves to the unity and inclusiveness of the United States of America, to ensuring that ours is a land of tolerance and a expansive democracy, to building global solidarity against terrorism, and to bringing forth a more peaceful and prosperous world."

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